To Some An End, To Others A Beginning

I only have to sleep alone 13 more times and my Sailor~Man will be home. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. I tell everyone, even people who don't care. Some people get to hear it every day - Only ## more days...! I think the girls at work will be so glad when he gets home so they won't have to hear it anymore.

I was thinking how, with most things, one thing has to come to an end for another to begin. They say that for every life that is created, one is lost. For every job lost, one is gained. {For every pound that is lost, I gain one!}

As excited as I am about the return of the Charlottetown, and my husband, there are approximately 300 families devastated at the deployment of the Iroquois, which left on Saturday for the Persian Gulf. We know that one ship is coming home, and one ship left.

This all occurred to me tonight while I had Stephanie at the MFRC showing her how to send mail to the ship. While we were there 3 or 4 other wives came in with packages to send to their husbands on ship. And while I was bursting inside because I no longer have to prepare packages to send, because he is coming home, these women were crying inside at the lonely 6 months ahead of them - and I knew EXACTLY how they were feeling. It is a horrible feeling. Like someone stuck a knife in your stomach and every once in a while gives it a twist. Then I began to feel guilty for standing there so happy and excited because MY Sailor~Man is on his way home, and there was nothing I could do or say to take their pain away - even though, now, I know, and could tell them, that 6 months is not as long as it sounds. But I knew it would have fallen on deaf ears, because 6 months ago people told me the same thing, and I did not believe them. Tomorrow I am going to a Reunion Workshop, and they are beginning the Cycle of Deployment.

I feel as though I am babbling, but that is the dialogue that is running through my head, and has been since then. I just hope that these ladies have a support system in place and that they utilize the MFRC to it's fullest capacity, that they keep themselves busy, and that they help one another. As much as I love my job, if a position became available helping women like these (like US), I would not hesitate taking it. Someone needs to be there for them. Someone who understands. Someone whose heart breaks for them - and with them. Someone who has walked in their shoes.

And so, today, this is...
Life As I Know It